i have seen a lot of hood scoops on street vehicles. some are really stupid looking, some are completely useless, and some actually come under the heading of dangerous due to vision blockage. i really like the way most stock factory hood scoops look, and some of them are actually useful, drawing cool air into the engine compartment or directly into the induction system.
i am thinking about breaking up the vast wasteland that is the acreage of the hood on my el camino with some type of hood scoop/cowl. more specifically, i am thinking of adding an early 70s SS style cowl to my hood. mostly because it is the traditional chevy hood scoop design, but also because it is a fairly functional addition, drawing cooler air off of the high pressure area in front of the wind shield into the engine compartment.
what is causing an issue is that i possess a trans am air cleaner top, and could look for the rest of the unit to add a more direct input of cool air to my carb, not just the engine bay. my question is, is the TA scoop really a good addition, or would something that is pointed into the airstream over the hood a better idea, like the early 70s GTO, GS or 442 types. having something like the early 442 hood scoops would look great, even if it may be hard to incorporate into the pretty much flat hood line of my car.
any thoughts? ???

It's pretty much your choice and whatever you think looks good...a TA scoop could work both functionally and visually. Be aware though cowl hoods are not functional unless you have a cowl induction air cleaner...without it they just vent hot air from the engine compartment and give you a lil more room if your looking to use a different intake manifold. Scoops in general though (if they're low) just look cool and really only allow cool air to enter the carb, they don't increase air pressure going into the carb. That's why Pro Stocks use those scoops mounted about roof level. A flexible duct vented from the front surface (fascia) of the carb actually works better than a hood surface scoop...but only at high speeds...that's where the high pressure area is.

A Trans Am shaker scoop? Just my thought, but they look funny on anything other than a T/A. There is actually a Mustang running around here with on on it! :lol: As for function they don't really work, the carb is way to far from the windshield to grab that high pressure, thats why the later ones were just decoration. Now a SS cowl induction hood may be a different story.

could some one provide a link or some info on a good looking functional hood for a 68.



texaselky im really likeing your hood. can i get something like that for my 68?

i went to google and did a search for 'hood scoops', and came up with all kinds of places that did everything from entire hoods to bolt-on/mold-on/rivet-on/tape-on what-ever you want....for everything EXCEPT 73-77 chevelle/el caminos. several places made fiberglass hoods with various cowl designs for 68s, both as a bolt on and a pin on style. one of the good things about having a popular body style, eh?
i hoped someone may have some experience with the various designs and which ones were best for functionality and aesthetics. i really don't want anything as obtrusive a a super stock hood, for instance. one...i am not that kind of wannna-be racer, and two.....i hate digging birds out of my carb :P
i have read the various claims over the years about hood scoop designs [including the TA] and the amount of air moved over the hood area. how the center of the hood is actually a dead zone of air pressure. i get that every winter when i drive with snow on my hood. it will all blow off except from the middle back to the windshield [real world wind tunnel testing, i guess]. while i will probably pick what i like, in the end, it would be interesting to hear other's ideas on the subject.

Here is a picture of a friends Monte with the shaker hood.
His car was in CHP last month.
Sorry its the best picture i can find but if you want better ones let me know and i will have him send me some.
http://media.motortopia.com/files/74/album_exteriorinterior/452ac7d21c34f/100_0922JPG_Thumbnail1.jpg

I got mine from carhoods.com, they were sure proud of it tho!!

I thought about a TA shaker scoop myself. 2nd Gen firebirds have the same problem we do. They have huge flat hoods that just cry out for some kind of distraction somewhere on them.

I don't know if it's quite the right look for a 4th gen though. Body lines are a bit flat for such a curvy scoop. I do admit that the 4th gen hood does have more curves in it than a 2nd gen Firebird though. I've seen quite a few 2nd gen firebirds with bent hoods because they were so long and flat. They seem to suffer the same problems as 70's era Chevy trucks in that respect. Hard to find a 73 to 91 Chevy Pickup that didn't have a bent hood.

4th gens have enough sculpting to strengthen the hood.

I wish Goodmark would make a steel hood with a cowl induction look from the 3rd gen chevelles. That's about a 1 1/2 inch scoop. That would be just enough to add some character.

I've seen Fiberglass hoods for 4th gens but they all have these butt ugly monster pro stock scoops molded in. I've also seen 4 and 6 inch cowl style hoods in fiberglass as well and they look equally awful.

ultimately it's the curse of the 4th gens. No parts and everything done the hard way...
:D

yeah, i know! even the mid 80s turbo 3.8 powered SS, regal, and GN had a hood scoop.....for crying out loud :cry:

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/attachments/cars-sale/56042d1220991977-1987-turbo-regal-gn-fs-wi-9000-car-012.jpg

I got mine from Unlimited Products online (#SC-104 if I'm not mistaken). Excellent quality and they are shipped very securely.

They have a lot of different styles to choose from.

4" Harwood FTW!http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/Hansmanbo/HPIM0469.jpg

I've seen Fiberglass hoods for 4th gens but they all have these butt ugly monster pro stock scoops molded in.
Not all of them... 8-)

Here's a couple of pics of the 2" cowl hood we got for our '77 project. Picked it up from VFN Fiberglass in Addison, IL. (Website here) (http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm).

Sorry, I don't have any pics of the finished painted hood as we've not yet done our final install of that area of the car.

It fit pretty good, but as with all fiberglass hoods, they need a little massaging to get them just right... :cool:

http://rzrd500.com/hosted/cowl_hood.jpg
http://www.rzrd500.com/hosted/mold-1.jpg

i suppose, due to the overall surface area of a 4th gen hood, most of the cowls i have seen seem to have a sag in the middle. even with the ridge down the center to match the stock hood.

the cowl seems to need to be about 35-40 inches long and at least 26 inches wide to look proportional [not too small], and the cowls i have looked at that are that large all seem to sag in the center when installed. would this be because of the cowl being too thin, not applied correctly, or maybe due to the effects of heat [either solar or engine]?

i definitely dont want a scoop more than 2" high. something a bit more subtle that is still functional and would look more like it belongs on the hood. not something that looks like it was straight off a super stock drag racer. we need to remember that i am driving this car around, and don't really want THAT much attention. plus, i think a big hood scoop would just detract from the rest of the lines of the car.

I've seen Fiberglass hoods for 4th gens but they all have these butt ugly monster pro stock scoops molded in.
Not all of them... 8-)

Here's a couple of pics of the 2" cowl hood we got for our '77 project. Picked it up from VFN Fiberglass in Addison, IL. (Website here) (http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm).

Sorry, I don't have any pics of the finished painted hood as we've not yet done our final install of that area of the car.

It fit pretty good, but as with all fiberglass hoods, they need a little massaging to get them just right... :cool:

http://rzrd500.com/hosted/cowl_hood.jpg
http://www.rzrd500.com/hosted/mold-1.jpg

See now that looks nice. Just the right bump up. I just want it in steel. I've watched my stock steel hood ripple in the wind when I go down the freeway at 80MPH or so.

Fiberglass wouldn't work for me mostly because sometimes I'm a ditz and screw up stuff I don't mean to screw up. Just way too easy for me to lean on it or slam it and screw it up.

:D

http://elcaminocentral.com/albums/PaPa-Johns-77/HPIM0019.sized.jpg

4" on my 77! :cool:

to begin to look right with a 4" hood cowl, i think the rest of the car would have to be just as much 'over-the-top'. nothing wrong with that, per se, but i don't want to go that route. i would need to get the big meats and jack the car to the right stance, and then juice the engine to make the scoop worth while.
i like that 2" hood, subtle and functional and looks like it belongs on there

My twin sons ordered it for me for my birthdat about 4 years ago. They had actually ordered a 2" cowl but they shipped a 4". It took 3 months to get it (busy season at Glasstek) so they just kept it! :cool:

If you're interested in building your own cowl hood, follow the link below
Projects Page (http://home.wbcable.net/~s.schutze/projects.htm)
Then follow the link to the cown induction hood scoop

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

actually, fabricating a cowl of my own design isnt beyond my capabilities. i am a fairly competent fiberglasser as well as an adequate tinner. my problem is i am currently going to school and having the time and place to build one is the biggest drawback to going that route. i see cowls of the right size and shape [and price] on ebay quite often, and am thinking of just getting one that way. would only take about an afternoon, and if the weather holds, i might even get a little sun :cool:

Here's a cowl from a 70 put on a 4th gen

http://www.scaldinghotelcamino.com/gallery08/043.jpg

http://www.scaldinghotelcamino.com/gallery06/032.jpg

yep, that's kinda the direction i want to go. found a guy in California selling cowls on ebay, so i got a 2" high with a ridge down the center to match the hood ridge on my 77. i will see how it looks when it gets here, but i am thinking it will fit right in with what i want.
http://i23.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/7d/18/cc51_1.JPG

Rob, INTERESTING!!! Keep us posted & updated with photos.

Looks great! :thumbsup: I've seen these "add on" "bolt on" hoods that you put on your original hood and theres some really great looking ones. My question is are they functional? And it looks like your adding wight. I would imagine you cut out the shape of the add on to the original hood then weld it on. ?

My question is are they functional? That would depend on your interpretation of "functional" A cowl induction hood on most older Chevys looks great...however just installing a cowl hood on any car doesn't mean it's going to improve performance and be "functional" You have to have the right air cleaner setup for it to become "functional" and even then all it really does is allow cooler air to be sucked directly into the carb. If you just throw a cowl hood onto a car and you don't use an air cleaner setup for a cowl hood, all your really accomplishing is a way for engine heat to vent out of the engine compartment...and that's only if the back of the cowl hood is opened.

my intention is for this to be as functional as a cowl hood can be. that is, i will be cutting out the area under the cowl to allow for air flow. it is open in the back to let the air through, and it [being fiberglass] shouldn't weigh but a few pounds at most. the metal i cut out will probably weigh more than the cowl i am installing.
no hood scoop is functional if you are just driving in cross-town traffic, except for venting hot air. but in montana we have a lot of open road to drive between towns and you can get along at a pretty good clip if the MHP isn't around [shhhhh, keep that to yourselves.... :secret: ].
i will probably drill and countersink some rivets to hold the cowl down and mold it to the hood with filler and a bit of sanding. the trick is to leave as much of the hood structure intact as you can to eliminate too much flex and vibration, which is what eats up fiberglass hood scoops butchered onto factory hoods. then i can make a pan for the air cleaner to snug up against the bottom of the hood to draw the air from the cowl. pretty simple high school shop class stuff.

The drop on 70 cowl induction option is what they did when Foose did the El Camino on Overhaulin, Episode was called "Surfer Kid" and they actually cut out part of the 4th gen hood and welded in most of the cowl hood.

In fact one of the fabricators actually posts on this site on occassion.

Nice that somebody else picked it up. I'd buy a pre-made steel cowl hood like that if they offered one.

:D

i wouldn't want to cut up a salvageable SS cowl hood....if there were a chance of finding one, but i don't see how it would be tough to make one. but this fiberglass add-on only cost $50. i probably couldn't make one myself for that much if i just wanted the one.
i have seen shops on line that make entire 'glass hoods with cowls, but those run about 500-600 bucks.....and then i would have to ship it, since most of them are based in the mid-west. US Body even offers an entire body shell including laguna front end.

i wouldn't want to cut up a salvageable SS cowl hood....if there were a chance of finding one, but i don't see how it would be tough to make one. but this fiberglass add-on only cost $50. i probably couldn't make one myself for that much if i just wanted the one.
i have seen shops on line that make entire 'glass hoods with cowls, but those run about 500-600 bucks.....and then i would have to ship it, since most of them are based in the mid-west. US Body even offers an entire body shell including laguna front end.

Actually I think you can get the Cowl hood (minus the flapper hardware) through Goodmark so you're not cutting up an original.

:D

i find it interesting that you can find multiple sources for chevelle/el camino hoods. my particular interest being the 73-77 hood, but there have been 68-72 hoods for quite a while....with cowls or any other style. like the L88 vette hood. the car i sold to get this el camino was a 69 skylark. i wanted to find a 69 GS hood for it for the longest time and there wasn't a single aftermarket one anywhere available. buicks almost never get any aftermarket stuff.

Hey there. I did not read any of the feedback you received so if I'm asking about something that had already been answered I apologize. I own a 1986 Choo Choo with a 383 stroker in it. I too would love to add a late 70's Trans Am shaker set up. Right now I have a 4 pin 4" cowl hood that I really don't like. I have searched all over the internet as to how I would accomplish setting this car up with a shaker but have failed to get an answers. Can you help me out? I plan to buy a plain jane fiberglass hood then make the proper alterations buy I have no idea how to integrate the T/A shaker unit onto my 650 Eldlebrock carb.

I have a welded/fiberglassed 66 GTO scoop cut into my stock hood. It is functional and has trap door to close it off if I get caught in a rain storm.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/voicesinhead2003/DSC03645.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/voicesinhead2003/elky/DSC03769.jpg

factory style cowls can be made functional and seal hot air out.i hate my 6" cowl but i run a dominator and a BIG K@N aircleaner.i just made a cold air box to seal the carb.it was worth almost a tenth at the track in the middle of summer.

look at my sig..i have an l88 corvette scoop on mine. looks good..and its different! :nanawrench:
heres a bttr pic

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o187/texasfunk/PIC_0009.jpg

I am going to buy an Iroc Camero daytona/turbo hood for my 86 El Camino. I know it might need some fabrication to fit just right, but after it is right it will look fat.

:beer:since we are on the subject of hoods, does any one know where to get one in canada. everywhere i search is USA and mostly california. iv never seen anything end in .ca ebay has but shipping would be more then the hood itself. i live in northern alberta, can any body help me.?

The best hood scoop is no hood at all :nanawrench:

:beer:since we are on the subject of hoods, does any one know where to get one in canada. everywhere i search is USA and mostly california. iv never seen anything end in .ca ebay has but shipping would be more then the hood itself. i live in northern alberta, can any body help me.?
as a matter of fact, there is a guy i bought some stuff from last fall on ebay who is in alberta and goes by the handle 'prairiecamino'..... Prairiecamino@cruzinternet.com

http://stores.ebay.com/BLUE-LAGUNA-1973-1977-A-BODY-PARTS